A year in Mongolia: men at work

wotcha.

This week I have been mostly sweating. I know I say it a lot but it is SO HOT here, and the humidity has just been hoiked up, so even more rancid. I am sweating from my eyeballs. The gross factor has skyrocketed, and I was already pretty gross to begin with

I havent done anything of interest, this is just a rambling post to fill time while I wait for Zolo to show up, so we can carry on with our ward visits.

So, I finished my 'initial programme' of training - this was, to recap for you, a series of lectures, discussions, demonstrations and assignments on five fundamental aspects of nursing,

1, the nursing process (assessment, diagnosis, planning, implemetation and evaluation)
2, Infection Control (basic microbiology, the spread of infections, the effective use of personal protective equipment, and how to deal with exposure to infection, eg, sharps injury.)
3, The physiology, prevention and treatment of pressure damage.
4, Safe moving and handling practices
5, Good practice for nursing patients with a disability

I then did three sessions of basic nursing knowledge, Vital signs, how and why we measure them, and the clinical implications of abnormal readings. Coronary Heart Disease, phsysiology, signs and symptoms of an impending heart attack. Respiratory physiology and common diseases of the respiratory tract, including TB, Pneumonia and acute Bronchitis, emphysema and Asthma.

I have also covered Wound Assessment and wound care and nursing documentation.

I have also started researching the WHO's (the world health organisation, not the band) recommendations for improving patient safety, and have written a proposal for the introduction of patient ID bands.

Anyway, so now lessons are off for the summer, thank goodness, trying to teach when you have sweat in your eyes and you can feel your feet literally swimming in your shoes is NOT FUN. Although I have still been doing my Chingeltei lectures - more on the latest debacle there later.

So I have taken to ambling around the wards asking my students how they have been implementing and sharing the information I gave them. In ICU they have totally taken on board the pressure area care stuff, and I nearly cried with joy when I saw how consciensiously they were applying all that I had taught.

In the Cardiac Surgery ward, the moving and handling techniques have been adopted, and appreciated.

It is such a buzz - especially since in a lot of the lessons they all just kinda sat there staring at me, falling asleep, or chtting on their mobiles. Although as I said before, I did notice a definate shift after a while and they became more attentive.

Yesterday, after a comedy of errors, in which I forgot what day it was, lost my memory stick and threw one of my epic hissy fits, I had a lecture at the Chingeltei health centre. It was on Diabetes, and it started off very well. However, Zolo began to lose concentration after a while, and then my computer collapsed, and then I pulled the plug accidentally on the projector, couldnt access the english version of the lecture, so I tried to illustrate Ketoacidosis through the medium of contemporary dance, realised I couldnt remember exactly what it actually was, realised the next slide was hyperosmolarity and decided to quit while I was behind and while Z was still at least something resembling conscious.

Went home and had a lovely evening as I have had, for the past two nights, a couple staying with me. they are friends of friends, but now I have adopted them as they are so lush. I made a big beef curry, and we sat around my plastic table having some beers and indepth chats about life, love, the universe, party anecdotes and Mongolia.

* I have just been handed, by my colleague, a chocolate biscuit thingey, which was quite nice, and says on the front "It has been prepared with care with naturalness, freshness and lasting superior taste in mind".*

Oh, this is spiralling into another bohemoth post, but I have to add my photos, I saw these mongolian men painting a building the other day, and I loved the visual, so I want to share it. I had to zoom in, so the picture quality isnt great, but it reminds me of this puzzle I used ot have as a child which was of men at work. Also I just remembered I went for a walk in the country the other day, and climbed up 666 steps to a monument on top of a hill, and then went to a bizarre little garden in the city, half real half plastic, but pretty pretty. So here are a collection of photos for your delection. Enjoy. Over and out.